Keating, Liddy, etc. will never have the potency of Ayers, Wright and Khalidi

Is Keating is potent as Ayers? No, it's not. There are several reasons why: Keating was largely a dem scandal- tarring such figures as John Glenn, it's more complex, and people react more viscerally to a "terrorist bomber" than to a corrupt banker. So yeah, I think Ayers could be damaging. I think next they'll throw out Khalidi and Wright. Those who say that this has all been covered in the primary are wrong. Lots of people just weren't tuned in during the primaries and this is potent stuff. And it's all the more potent because Obama is a black man with an unusual biography named Barack Obama. No one will ever question McCain's "Americainess". Barack Obama has had to be vigilant about such attacks from the onset of his campaign.

It won't be surprising if Obama starts sinking in the polls and McCain starts rising, due to these attacks. Americans have a xenophobic streak and we're a very reactionary people.

BUT

Having said that, this election will be won by superior strategy. It will be won by the immediate circumstances that impact the lives of voters. It will be won in the trenches by organization and money- which is where all presidential elections are won. Obama and team have demonstrated repeatedly that they understand how to win. Here's an example:

From Salon:

Obama's grass-roots battalion vs. McCain's ragtag platoon
In Wisconsin's blue-collar Paper Valley, the Democrats are banking on an outpouring of volunteers while the Republicans are left with fear itself.

By Walter Shapiro


Oct. 6, 2008 | GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Mid-morning Saturday, the Republican headquarters here in the fiercely contested northeast corner of Wisconsin reflected the somnolent air of the half-empty indoor mall in which it was located. A few Republican stalwarts wandered by to pick up McCain-Palin lawn signs and other GOP campaign paraphernalia. A signboard on the wall announced the target of "878 Doors" on which to knock, but it was evident that most of the canvassing -- the lifeblood of grass-roots organizing and get-out-the-vote drives -- would be done by pairs of high-school students too young to vote.

Two hours later, in contrast, the pulse rate was racing at the local Democratic headquarters as more than 70 political foot soldiers (most of them middle-aged) readied themselves for an afternoon of canvassing, phone calling and scrawling vote-for-Obama postcards to neighbors. On the sidewalk of the down-at-the-heels strip mall, Obama volunteers grilled lunchtime hamburgers and hot dogs as if this were an alcohol-free Packer tailgate party outside of Lambeau Field.

Sometimes in politics, the obvious can be more telling than the subtle. For all the glib talk about how Sarah Palin has energized the conservative base, it is hard to find evidence that the Republicans have papered over their enthusiasm gap here in Paper Valley, a moniker designating the dominant local industry in the Green Bay-Appleton area. "Our volunteer base is getting older and we're trying to turn that around, but it's not easy," concedes Tom Van Drasek, the Republican chairman of Brown County, of which Green Bay is the county seat. "McCain got started late here on the ground -- and we're struggling to catch up."

With the McCain campaign retreating from Michigan into Wisconsin (a state that John Kerry won by a paltry 11,000 votes in 2004), the Paper Valley is scorched-earth political terrain. According to the latest media-monitoring measurement by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project, the Green Bay area was sixth in the nation in terms of the number of TV spots aired during the second week in September, even though it is the 69th largest media market in the country. John McCain and Barack Obama held Green Bay rallies four days apart in mid-September. As Mark Graul, a Republican strategist who ran the 2004 Bush campaign in Wisconsin, puts it, "John McCain has to win this congressional district by 10 points in order to win the state." (In 2004, George W. Bush defeated Kerry by 11 points in the heavily Catholic 8th; two-thirds of the district's electorate lives in the Green Bay-Appleton area).

<snip>

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/06/wisconsin/

I think the "good" 527 material for dems is that clip of McCain stumbling around on stage last week, looking old, ill and confused. It has to be done the right way, but his age and his mental competency and health are pretty potent stuff.

of mccain stumbling?

is a pretty compelling story.

He only got away with it because he ratted out his co-conspirators to save his drug-addicted wife from federal prison.

And that, my friend, are all FIRST PERSON FACTS - not some "guilt by association, lived in the same neighborhood" bullshit.

McCain is a lying, corrupt sociopath that preyed on the elderly (one of whom slit his wrists, committing suicide at age 89 after losing his life savings).

we're committed to electing Obama,not people out there who are undecided and uninformed.

My SO's 22-year-old son called last night. They are a traditional Republican family..have been for generations...the 22-year-old is brilliant academically, but I held my breath as I overheard the conversation turn to politics. I certainly assumed he'd be against Barack; whether or not he'd be FOR McCain was a different story. I assumed he'd think Palin was "hot."

Sure enough, he said, "I gotta say, Palin is hot."

BUT, he told his dad, hesitantly, that he's for Obama (btw, my SO is also for Obama...finally...after encouraging him to PAY ATTENTION).

He said the main and branch campuses of University of Wisconsin are for Obama, 9:1. That's not really a surprise.

But this 22-year-old being part of the majority here was a surprise. A delightful surprise.

He said it's about the economy. They are paying attention...they younger people are paying attention, and they see that Obama is intelligent. It doesn't matter as much if he has experience (the older people with experience have fucked it up anyway); he is intelligent and can make decisions, more informed decisions. They trust him to be a leader more.

Cool. :)

And getting young people out to vote is critical. By the way, my 22 year old is also for Obama. In fact, he's the one that got me to take a serious look at him, almost a year ago.

The DOW will probably fall under 10,000 this week. I think McCain's attempt to change the subject would usually work, but I dont think it will this time with the economy in such turmoil.

that it will likely swamp all other considerations. And Obama's style of cool and calm leadership is tailor made for it, in contrast to McCain's appearance of hot headed and impulsive behavior.

I wouldnt be surprised if because of the economy, the story is lead by all but FOx News as McCain just being desperate because he doesnt want to talk about the economy. Not to mention, the debate will be the storyline for the next week and what happens there, not BIll Ayers.

the old piece of shit is the sinking economy. As I just wrote elsewhere, we are nearing general public panic mode.

However, the dynamics within the country are very different from in years such as 1988 and 2004, when negative campaign tactics worked most effectively. One of the biggest differences is how the media is treating the McCain-Palin attacks. Both McCain and Palin have, in different ways, created an atmosphere where journalists are unwilling to give them a free pass. More, Obama and Biden are not hesitant victims of such attacks; their responses to these attacks are thus reported in a different way than past victims'.

The fact that McCain and Palin have waited this late -- to a time when they are falling far behind in the polls -- will be seen as causing desperate attacks, rather than raising serious concerns.

people including myself are totally confused about the financial crisis; we to a large extent have to ask ourselves who we can trust.

Keating Five plays directly into this crisis, it tells us we can't trust McCain.

The Ayers thing would be more potent if people haven't gotten to know Obama a little bit. He's been out there campaigning for a long time now, and I think people have seen enough of him to know he's not a terrorist sympathizer.

<<<< Wisconsin Hunters For Obama

when Weather Underground was active that makes the charge stupid.

If he worked for the campaign, if he was a major funder, if he was still some radical...it could be more of a problem.

I know they will distort things to make it sound worse...like they make it sound like Ayers wrote about bombs on 9-11, that he is unrepentant, wishes they had bombed more. None of that was true. Hell Hillary pushed that, why wouldn't McCain?
While the print media seems to look for the facts the TV blathers and TV has more impact.
Who knows.

mad about the whole mess. They understand sub-prime mortgages, given by banks and other lenders, a lot better than they understand the Wall Street piece of the debacle. Also, McCain accepted things from Keating and strong armed people on behalf of Keating. That's direct involvement, not being smeared bc of something Keating did when McCain was 8.

Wright is an old school fire and brimstone preacher whom Obama has since disabowed. If the worst thing they have on Obama is that he went to a church headed by an old school fire and brimstone preacher, we're real good--and so is Obama's character.

Besides, America has seen both movies before, during the primary. No one has resurrected Keating 5--how McCain launched HIS political career--in a while. A lot of voters are too young to know about Keating 5.

There were a lot of Vietnam war protesters in the 60's and 90's. They will talk to their kids and grandkids about years. Not so many folk are to explain that being a felon like Charles Keating is not as bad as it sounds bc things were different back in the day, though.